Reuters World News - The Niger base with Russian and US troops, German marijuana and animal consciousness

Episode Date: May 3, 2024

Russian soldiers have entered an air base in Niger that is hosting US troops. We take a look at how Germany’s new rules on marijuana are playing out. Dozens of researchers sign a declaration saying it’s possible animals experience consciousness. Plus, UK elections, weekend yen watch and the Eurovision Song Contest approaches. Visit the Thomson Reuters Privacy Statement for information on our privacy and data protection practices. You may also visit megaphone.fm/adchoices to opt out of targeted advertising. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today, US troops and Russian forces operate from the same military base in Niger. British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak suffers heavy election losses. Germany's green light from marijuana stokes joy and opposition. And the inner lives of animals. We hear from a scientist calling for a rethink on animal consciousness. It's Friday, May 3rd. This is Reuters World News, bringing you everything you need to know from the front lines in 10 minutes every weekday.

I'm Carmel Frimmons in Dublin. The Russians are in a separate compound and don't have access to U.S. forces or access to our equipment. U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin offering reassurances that U.S. troops in Niger are safe. His comments came after Reuters reported that Russian military personnel had entered an airbase in the capital, Niami, which houses U.S. troops. Niger's junta has told the U.S. to withdraw the nearly 1,000 military personnel the U.S. has in the country.

At the same time, Russia is seeking to strengthen relations with Niger and other African countries. Until a coup last year, Niger had been a key U.S. partner in the fight against Islamic insurgents. Violent protest is not protected. Peaceful protest is. Vandalism, trespassing, breaking windows, shutting down campuses, forcing the cancellation of classes and graduations. None of this is a peaceful protest.

breaking his silence on pro-Palestinian protests, rocking college campuses across the US. His comments came after police arrested hundreds of students at UCLA and other universities. Sticking with Gaza, Turkey has halted all trade with Israel, accusing it of stoking a humanitarian disaster in the enclave. The move is the later sign of deepening tensions between the two countries. Israel says Ankara is breaking trade agreements by blocking ports. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak's Conservative Party is facing big law in local elections in England and Wales.

The opposition Labour Party won a key parliamentary seat and control of several councils. The victory sets the tone ahead of a national election this year, with polling putting labour on track to end 14 years of Conservative government. Boris Johnson, one of the main figures from those 14 years, was left red-faced on Thursday. The former Prime Minister was turned away from a polling station after he forgot to bring his photo ID. Johnson introduced the rule, requiring voter identity.

requiring voter identification. Already got that Friday feeling? Well, you're probably not an FX trader. A long weekend in Japan and the UK is a prime opportunity for Tokyo to intervene to bolster the yen. And that means no rest for currency dealers. Amanda Cooper covers financial markets in London,

the World Centre for Trading FX. Amanda, why are public holidays and long weekends a sweet spot for central bank intervention? Well, if you're a central bank and you're going to intervene to either buy or sell your currency. Like anybody in the market, you want to do so for as little money as possible. You want to get as much bang for buck as you possibly can. And if you're a central bank, you want to send a powerful message to the market.

And so probably the best way to do this is to do it at a time when there's what we call low liquidity. That means not many other buyers and sellers that are on the other side of that trade. So a public holiday somewhere is going to remove some liquidity or market participants, meaning that those that are left might be forced to take whatever price you offer them. Why are traders so worried about missing out on this? In the case of the yen, investors are very much positioned for more weakness in the yen. So if the Bank of Japan comes in and propped it up and gives it strength, some of those positions are going to be possibly underwater or eroded in some way.

so traders want to make sure that they don't miss out on that and don't get caught on the wrong side of it, because the move if it happens will be big. We saw this week how the Biden administration is looking to reclassify marijuana as a less dangerous drug. Well, in Germany, it's been a month since it was made partly legal. Cultivating up to three plants for private consumption and owning up to 25 grams of cannabis is allowed. But there's still opposition to the change and some confusion over some of the rules. Andreas Rinka is in Berlin and has been looking at the law's first month.

All the people who voted in favour of this reform they celebrated the legal way of consumption. For example, the 20th of April at the Brandenburg Gate, thousands of people were singing, dancing and smoking. And the organiser Daniel Brugner told us how incredible this change has been for him and for the other people there they said they had been criminalised in the past

and now they are not considered criminals anymore and they feel very good because of that they're not stigmatized anymore. Andreas has debate about the law gone away? No, they haven't gone away because of two reasons. One is that the opposition party made clear from the beginning

that they are going to change the law again if they come into power that could happen next year, at least according to the polls. So that will be constant debate till the next federal elections. And the second point and reason is that not all the details have been settled. And you've seen how this has already had an impact on Germany's image, right? Yeah, that was a funny experience. I went with Chancellor Schultz to China and he attended a

discussion with students from a university. And one of the students actually asked him being pretty concerned that he's going to study in Berlin and he mentioned that he mentioned that He doesn't want to be confronted with cannabis in Germany because it's illegal in China. I mean, it was a funny situation, but it shows a bit how maybe the image of Germany might be changing also because of this new law, because Germany used to have an image which is maybe a bit boring, but at least being serious and safe. Do fruit flies have dreams? Do octopuses avoid pain? key questions for scientists looking at whether creatures may be sentient, or in other words, they experience some kind of consciousness.

Dozens of researchers have signed a declaration saying this is a real possibility. Jeff Sebo is one of them. He's an expert in animal ethics and lecture and philosophy at New York University. Jeff, firstly, what do we mean when we say consciousness? When we use the term in this declaration, we are referring to a particular kind of consciousness that people call phenomenal consciousness, sometimes sentience. And that means the ability to have subjective experiences, experiences that feel like something to you as a subject.

So the feeling of pleasure and pain or the feeling of hope and fear. Can you give me some examples of the studies that have been done to show that maybe these animals have consciousness? Yeah, absolutely. For example, octopuses are able to develop strong and sustained preferences for being in locations they associate with pleasant experiences and being away from locations they associate with painful experiences. Cleaner rass fish, these small fish, are able to seemingly recognize themselves in the mirror,

play in front of the mirror, start investigating themselves in front of the mirror, none of which is decisive, but when you put them all together, they nudge the probability of consciousness up. What are the implications of this? There is not consensus about the policy implications, and the declaration makes no particular policy recommendations. Where we agree is that all of these animals, all vertebrates and many invertebrates, have a realistic chance of being conscious. Do you anticipate there being pushback to this? We can agree that these animals merit consideration while disagreeing about what that means

in practice in particular context. Some of us might think we should end. end the use of certain animals for food or research. Others might think we should regulate these industries to improve their welfare. So we can agree that the animals matter and they merit consideration. And then we can debate the policy implications. The countdown to next weekend's Eurovision song contest is fully underway in Malmol. The Swedish city is hosting the show, and this is a pop-up exhibition to mark the event. And 50 years since Abbas' historic win.

There are costumes and other memorabilia, as well as segments on the musical Mamma Mia and the band's virtual stage show, Abba Voyage. Among those there for the opening day is Austrian politician Marco Schroeder, who's a huge fan. I bought all the records and I had the posters hanging on the wall. And in my generation, it was also very common that people asked you, do you prefer Beatles or stones? And my reply was always, Abba. The final of Eurovision is a week Saturday and we'll have all the latest from Sweden in the buildup.

That's your Friday update. We'll be back Monday with the latest from around the world. Stay tuned over the weekend for a special episode looking at how Balkan gangsters became Europe's top cocaine suppliers. And to make sure you never miss any of our episodes, click subscribe on your favourite podcast player.